William haedee



w. HARDER. fllhill-Coupling,

' No. 225,011. Patented Mar. 2,1880.

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UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

WILLIAM HARDER, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO EUGENEHARDING, OF SAME PLACE.

THILLI-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,011, dated March 2,1880,

Application filed November 7, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM HARDER, ofPitt-sfield, in the county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Couplings; and I dohereby declare' the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, whichform a part of this specification.

This invention relates to thill-couplings of that class provided withelastic means for holdhead of the coupling-pin and the other upturnedend passed over the pointed end of the coupling-pin and resting againstthe clip. Thill-couplings of these constructions are objectionable forthe reasons that a pin of uniform diameter throughout is employed, andwhenever the holding'spring yields the thill will rattle.

The main object of my improvement is to make an anti-rattler thillcoupling of this class, and one that will take up the wearautomatically.

The improvement therefore consists in the combination, with partsconstituting the main part of a thill-coupling, of the tapering pinhaving a projecting end and U-shaped elastic spring, as will behereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of referenceindicate like parts, Figure l is a side view of the spring. Fig. 2 is aview of the same as seen from the side T. Fig. 3 is a side view of thepin, and Fig. 4 is a view of the device as applied to acarriagecoupling. I

There are very many places in which a coupling is needed which, whilebeing simple and easy to use, will automatically take up the wear of theparts and prevent the disagreeable rattling which is found in mostcouplings made.

ordinary part of a carriage-coupling attached,

the parts a" r forming a socket, into which the piece or tongue at fits.A section of a thill is shown bolted to the usual projecting piece fromthe tongue n. The tapering pin j passes through the pieces r, r, and n,as shown in the drawings. The end f of the spring T passes over thesmaller end of the pin and bears against the piece 1", while the otherend, 0, of the spring bears against the other end of the pin, thusforcing the pin in the direction of the end f.

I employ a tapering pin for the reason that it will take up the wear,keep the parts together tightly, and effectually do away with therattling."

The hole in the endfof the spring is made large enough to allow thetippingof the spring requisite to get it in place.

The position of the spring while being placed on the pin is shown indotted lines in Fig. 4. In this position a slight pressure will forcethe spring in place. On the end of the pin I make the projection t, overwhich the end 0 of the spring passes.

This particular manner of holding the spring in place I do not confinemyself to, as other arrangements may be made. For instance, a projectionmay be formed on the spring, as shown in dotted lines at b, Fig. 1, anda recess made in the end of the pin to receive the same.

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

In a thill-coupling of the class described, the combination of atapering pin formed at its larger end with a projection, t, and the U-shaped spring, one end of which is passed over the smaller end of thetapering pin and the other end passed over the projection of the largerend of the tapering pin, whereby wear is taken up automatically andrattling prevented, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this27th dayof Witnesses WILLIAM T. FILLEY, EUGENE HARDER.

